Section 215
Fansided

Eagles Armchair: On To 2016

By Tucker Bagley

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The most comprehensive weekly look at the Philadelphia Eagles on the internet.

WALK THROUGH

It’s all over. The 2015 Philadelphia Eagles saw their season go from Super Bowl predictions and promise in August to bitter disappointment and disgust before the end of the calendar year.

But how? How could a team that knocked off the Patriots and dominated teams in the preseason lose to Kirk Cousins and the Washington Redskins 38-24 at home to lose the division?

“Because we continue to shoot ourselves in the foot,” Sam Bradford explained after the game, behind a blank stare. “The same things that we were doing in Week one and Week two we are continuing to do. Good football teams don’t make the mistakes that we make on a weekly basis.”

No, good football teams improve and adjust on a week-to-week basis. Good football teams don’t drop countless passes or allow over five yards per carry to David Johnson and Doug Martin.

“When I look at the roster and I look at every guy in the locker room,” Malcolm Jenkins said. “We have talent and we have guys that can play. But for whatever reason as a cohesive unit, we’re not that good. I think that everybody in this organization has a hand in that. We just couldn’t figure it out.”

In 10 years when fans look back on this chapter of Eagles history, they may try to compare the 2015 Eagles to the “Dream Team” of 2011 that finished 8-8 after winning its final four games. But maybe the lacking of late-season success will be a blessing in disguise for Chip Kelly and company. There’s no false hope, no false sense of security. Not one player or coach in the Eagles locker room should comfortable with the situation they are in.

Big changes are on the horizon. The offensive line needs revamping, Sam Bradford needs a new contract, the inside linebackers and secondary need to shape up and the wide receivers need more time on the JUGS machine or new gloves.

After the huge roster turnover of last season, the Eagles were expected to be done rebuilding, but the deficiency in talent across the board needs to be addressed if the Eagles are expected to contend for a playoff spot next season, which means there is a potential for another tumultuous offseason from the Eagles’ front office.

But for now, with one game left to play, the Eagles will lick their wounds and head to the Meadowlands, where the Giants are waiting, coming off a beat down of their own. But according to Kelly, the Eagles will play for pride come Sunday.

“We are trying to go win the football game so this isn’t — if someone told me we don’t have to go try and win a game, then we are in the wrong spot,” the coach said. “We have the opportunity to go play one more game and we are going to go try to win it.”

INJURY REPORT

Did Not Play – Seyi Ajirotutu (ankle), Bennie Logan (calf), Byron Maxwell (shoulder)

No Eagle suffered a game-ending injury although Riley Cooper did miss a few snaps in the first half after coming up lame following his dropped pass on a deep ball from Bradford. Cooper ended up coming back on the next series.

Jason Peters also went down with what looked like to be an injury to his arm, causing him to miss a few snaps in the first quarter, but he came back and had an up-and-down performance during the rest of the game before taking himself out in garbage time (more on that later.)

MEASURABLES

4 – The Eagles have allowed 38 or more points in four of their past six games, all losses. For reference, the Eagles did not allow 38 points in a single game from 1999 to 2004 and the game that broke that streak was in a contest against the Bengals where Andy Reid sat out his starters. The ineffectiveness of the Eagles defense the past two months has been shocking, especially after their great play to open the season. Maybe they are fatigued from facing so many snaps, but this kind of play is unacceptable. 

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2.10 – Since coming back from his concussion Ryan Mathews has averaged 2.10 less yards per carry. With all of the testing that goes into the NFL’s concussion protocol, it is impossible for a player to return to action with any concussion-like symptoms, but he certainly isn’t 100 percent. Maybe he isn’t fully conditioned or he’s wearing down, but the lack of production shows why the Eagles were leery of making him an every-down back in this offense.

7 – It has been seven years since the Eagles won a playoff game, a streak that will improve to eight. In 2008, the Eagles squeaked into the playoffs with a 9-6-1 record after beating the Dallas Cowboys 44-6 on the last day of the season. They then knocked off the Minnesota Vikings and New York Giants before falling to the Arizona Cardinals in the NFC Championship Game. Based on this season’s outcome, it may be a while longer before fans taste postseason glory again.

SECTION 140

I don’t know if there is some sort of copyright red tape holding this up, but it would make everyone’s lives a lot easier.

For a guy who is supposed to be a hard-hitter, Kiko Alonso has seemed almost timid at times, and his slight body frame certainly doesn’t help. For the Eagles’ sake, his poor play better be a result of him not being totally confident with his knee. 

This one kind of speaks for itself.

WEEKLY AWARDS

The Not Too Shabby Award: DeMarco Murray

Despite playing just 13 snaps, Murray picked up 51 yards from scrimmage and a touchdown on five carries and four receptions. His 5.4 yards per carry were head and shoulders over Ryan Mathews’ 1.25 YPC and Darren Sproles‘ 1.8. Now, five decent carries do not outweigh 15 weeks of sub-par football, but at least Murray is showing flashes of potentially returning to form if he is an Eagle next season.

The What The $@!#% Are You Doing? Award: Kirk Cousins

You know what play I’m talking about. With five seconds left in the first half and the Redskins sitting in the Eagles red zone without a time out, Jay Gruden apparently called for Cousins to throw a fade to Pierre Garcon in the end zone. If he catches it, six points. If he drops it, the Redskins get a chip shot field goal. But Cousins didn’t throw the ball. He took a knee. He let the clock run out, effectively taking points off the board for Washington. Chances are, you will never see a play like that in an NFL game ever again.

NO HUDDLE

  • I thought both E,J. Biggers and Jaylen Watkins played better than I thought they could, but Watkins is clearly the superior cornerback. Watkins has covered well in his limited playing time and it was rather surprising he didn’t make the team out of training camp. His tackling is a bit suspect, but he competes on balls down the field and is athletic enough to stay with most wide receivers. Biggers, on the other hand, was a bit more inconsistent, struggling to cover any receiver who didn’t have the last name Garcon across their shoulders. Seriously, I don’t know if Biggers picked up on Garcon’s tendencies in his time with Washington, but he played really well opposite number 88, and not so much against everyone else.
  • After Howard Eskin reported yesterday that Peters took himself out of the game because he didn’t want to risk injury, many fans came down hard on the future Hall-of-Famer and I don’t get it. Yes, Peters did have certain motivation problems as a member of the Buffalo Bills which was a major factor in him getting traded to the Eagles in 2009, but this is a separate issue. Peters has missed a lot of time this year with back and leg issues, things that are not good for any player, let alone one who is tasked with carrying around 328 lbs on his 6-4 frame. Peters is 33 and at the tail end of his illustrious career and he knows that his body only has a certain number of snaps in it. Why would he waste them on a meaningless series in a game that was already decided in a season that was effectively over? If he hadn’t missed a snap all year and was 100 percent healthy, this would be a different story, but he’s not, so let him be.
  • The Eagles have a lot of holes of holes to fill before next season, but perhaps the most surprising one is at inside linebacker. Last season, the Eagles defense struggled after DeMeco Ryans tore his Achilles, so Kelly made it a priority to stock up that position, drafting Jordan Hicks, extending Mychal Kendricks‘ contract and trading for Kiko Alonso. But Hicks is hurt, Ryans is a shell of his former self, Alonso looked terrible and Kendricks has regressed from borderline Pro-Bowl snub to average-at-best. With all of the resources that has been used on this group, Kelly may have to employ the wait and see strategy and hope for the best, which is scary.
  • Now that the Eagles are officially eliminated from the playoffs, Bill Davis‘s fate is all but sealed. His unit outplayed the offense to begin the season, and if you look at the points per drive metric, they still have played better than the offense, but the collapse that has taken place in the past few weeks and the lacking of adjustments that have been made as a result are inexcusable. Someone has to take the fall for a potential 6-10 season and if it isn’t going to be Kelly, it has to be Davis.

Next: Eagles Could Face Rams in London in 2016

WHO’S NEXT

The Eagles will head up to the Meadowlands on Sunday to take on the 6-9 Giants in what seems like a meaningless game. And it is, for 2015.

BUT… the loser of this matchup will be forced to play the St. Louis Rams in London next season as a result of finishing third in the NFC East. So get hyped Eagles fans, for the Transatlantic Bowl (TM) could play a huge factor in to the Eagles schedule next season.

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